Stuck Sparge

I brewed up a Belgian White this last weekend and had real trouble with a stuck sparge. I knew things were not going as planned when during the mash I could not get good flow through my HERMS coil. I used:

Belgian Pilsner as base, 3.00 lb White Wheat Malt, and 2.5 lb Flaked Wheat.

I have brewed for a while and have never had this kind of trouble before. My pump was constantly pushing out a foamy liquid that remained throughout the entire mash and sparge. Had difficulty maintaining my temps do to the low flow with pump. All my hoses are 1/2" with camlocks. My guess is the flaked wheat, but honestly not sure what the problem is. I've brewed plenty of beers with wheat before without this problem. I have never used rice hulls in the mash. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

With flaked wheat the mash can get gunked up easily. If I am using anything 'flaked' or 'wheat' I usually just throw in some rice hulls. They are cheap, inert, and I would rather not have to deal with a stuck sparge/mash.